This invention relates to a novel flag-tag device and to an improved coupling and an improved belt buckle for such a device.
Games utilizing "chase-catch" instincts are as old as civilization. One of the most elaborate and complicated is the game of football as played in the United States of America. Rules in the game provide fair and equal opportunities to win, and along with the demands of strategy and physical skills, combine to make football the United States' favorite sport. Unfortunately, this great game has been mostly a "spectator" sport.
The reason for this is that the playing of tackle football requires much heavy body contact as well as extensive falling or rolling contact with the ground. Thus, the tackle version of the game of football requires much physical conditioning and expensive safety equipment. These are factors which make mass participation in this version of the game impossible.
An alternative version has been played which requires stopping of the ball carrier by a two handed "tag" or "touch", and this, in combination with modified blocking rules has allowed less restricted participation in the game. However, this game becomes less exciting because the ease with which the "touch" or "tag" is made prevents the ball carrier from going forward into or through a group of opponents.
Still another alternative involves stopping the ball player by removing a tail, streamer or flag from the body. However, these flags, in order to make the game exciting, must detach only after use of the same approach as in making a good tackle in the "tackle" version of the game.
The ideal is to provide a set of flag devices which spin, spiral and flutter so as to be elusive, and which ideally requires a pull-away tension of 15-20 lbs. The flags should require an "along-side" approach with a center flag grasp and clean jerk-away to accomplish deflagging. If these standards are required, this will make the game exciting and will make it available for safe mass participation of people of both sexes and all ages. As noted before, such devices are generally illustrated by the above-identified patents of the same inventor.
In prior art flag type games, a flag has typically been attached to the belt or other waist-encircling arrangement of a wearer by releasable coupling parts in a manner such that the flag is pulled away from its attachments to the belt by a predetermined pull-away tension to the belt. This serves to detach the flag coupling part from the cooperative belt coupling part. Normally, these coupling parts have been designed as cooperating ball and socket devices, as shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,966,356; 3,251,109; 3,345,070; and 3,579,745. Such coupling parts are typically formed of plastic material and it has been found that where resiliency of the socket part is relied upon for the attachment and release of the ball part, the resiliency varies under different conditions of climate and particularly in colder climates, where the socket part may shrink to such a degree that the pull-away force to separate the coupling part becomes excessive, this creates substantial problems in using the device.
By enlarging the socket or female part as compensation, other problems are created and results in non-uniform performance of the coupling in varied climates.
Bifurcating the ball does not fully solve the problem and reduces the durability of the ball.
In a more recent improvement in this type of device, as evidenced by the device of U.S. Pat. No. 4,304,403, a ball member is provided with an open-ended through slot to provide resiliency to the cheeks of the ball to permit manual attachment and detachment thereof relative to the socket member. An attachment member is positioned by an angled portion extending outwardly of the belt of a player to secure the end of a game flag or similar game piece thereto.
Although providing an improvement over the above-discussed prior art devices, it has been found that even this type of ball and socket coupling assembly will wear out as a result of time and although the problems with respect to changes in climate are somewhat ameliorated, the same problem still exists, but on a lesser scale. Furthermore, even with this type of device, should it be functioning properly, it has also been found that a disadvantage of use thereof is that many times in the excitement of the game the person wearing the device and having the flag detached therefrom will not notice the tug, and continue playing thereby delaying the game unnecessarily.
In other prior flag-tag games, another problem has been that the belts in use generally need to be constructed of several different sizes. First sizes for smaller players with smaller waists who would not be able to wear larger sizes for use by adult-type players. A second size is used for adult-type players which when used on smaller players would result in a dangling extension of the belt which is often mistaken for a flag and pulled upon to down the player.
One belt design which attempts to correct this problems is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,355,744 and describes a belt and engaging member onto which the excess belt amount can be looped to prevent the belt end from flopping during the games. However, it is often the case that the user will forget to engage the belt in said element, thereby defeating the purpose of this provision.